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SERMON, 







(/'^c^ 



DELITEBS IK THE 



CAPITOL OF THE UNITED STATES ^ 



OS 



LORD'S DAV, JUIiV 16, 1826 ; 



AT THE REaUEST OF 



THE CITIZENS OF WASHINGTo^V, 



ON THE DEATH OF 






By WILLIAM STAUGHTON, D. D, 

LATE CHAPLAIN OF THE SENATE. 



How are the mighty ialleti 




WASHINGTON I 



FtBLISBES AT THE COLUMBIAN OFPICE, NORIW E STUEtT. 






V 



» ■* '. 



MAroK'a Office, July 17, 1826. 

Sin, 

The Committee appointed at the late Town-meetings, have, by an 
unanimous vote, requested me to ask of you, for publication, a copy of 
the eloquent and impressive Funeral Sermon, delivered by you in 
the Capitol, yesterday, in honour of the memories of the deceased Pat- 
riots and Statesmen, Thomas Jefferson and Jou> Adams. 

I have the honour to be. Sir, 

Very respectfully, yours, 

R. C. WEIGHTMAN, 

Chairman of the Committer 



Washingtobt, July 18th, 182S. 

1 have received your communication, as Chairman of the Commit- 
tee, appointed at the late Town meetings in Washington. I thank, Sir, 
yourself and the Committee, for your condescending regard to the Ser- 
mon which I delivered at the Capitol, the last Sabbath morning, a copy 
of which, is wholly at their service. 1 beg of you to tender to the Com- 
mittee, assurances of my most respectful consideration, and to be per 
suaded, that, with the highest esteem for your character and talents, 

I am your obedient servant, 

WILLIAM STAUGHTOK 



)firuw^Di 



o 



2 Samuel i. 23. 



LOVELY AND PLEASANT were they IN THEIR LIVES— IN THEin DEATH THlilf 
WERK NOT DIVIDED; THET WERE SWIFTER THAN EAGLES, TilEY WERE 
STRONGER THAN LIONS. 

Toll the knell— still louder toll it. Convey, ye 
winds, the funereal sound, from the forests of Maine, 
(o the Savannahs of Florida; from the Western 
Ocean to the Eastern. Jefferson and Adams are 
no more ! 

No ordinary circumstances have induced us to as- 
semble in our Capitol this morning. Death may 
glory in the spoils, which on the fourth of the present 
month he acquired ; but, there is a political as well 
as an evangelic import in the triumph. " Death is 
swallowed up in victory." Twelve millions of our 
citizens have received, or are receiving, the intelligence 
that two of the greatest Statesmen, the world ever 
knew, died both '^ on the same day" and that was 
the day, on which the trumpet of our Jubilee was 
sounding. This interesting fact will become incor- 
porated with the history of our Union and excite the 
astonishment of future ages. It would seem, by this 
unparalleled Providence, as if Jehovah were saying 



to the American, as to the Hebrew nation^ "Ye shall 
hallow the fiftieth year." 

To recommend the virtues, and propose the ex- 
amples, of the illustrious dead, was the constant 
practice of the ancient Egyptians, of the Greeks, and 
of the Romans. The primitive fathers of the Christ- 
ian Church adopted the measure, and it appears, at 
an early period, to have been in use among the pious 
Jews. The passage we have read, as the basis of 
our morning's meditations, is selected from the first 
formal elegy which the volume of revelation contains. 
The occasion was exceedingly calamitous. " The 
Philistines," the hereditary and inexorable enemies 
of Israel, " fought against" them. " The men of 
Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down 
slain in Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines follow- 
ed hard upon Saul and upon his sons ; and the Phi- 
listines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Melchi- 
shua, Saul's sons." Wounded sorely by the ar- 
chers, Saul requested his araiour- bearer to slay him, 
but he would not, on which " Saul took a sword and 
fell upon it." His faithful amour-bearer imitated 
the melancholy example of his master, for »'* he fell 
likewise upon his sword and died with him." 

Oil receiving the intelligence, in a strain of pecu- 
liar beauty, which no translation can fully convey, 
David requests that the melancholy disclosure should 



not be made inGath or Askelon, "lest the daughter!* 
of the Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the 
uncircuracised triumph.'' He asks that on the de- 
graded mountains of Gjlboa, no dew nor rain may de- 
scend; no fields of oiFering may be seen. He directs 
the daughters of Israel to weep, exclaiming thrice in 
the course of his short, but beautiful effusion, ^- How 
are the mighty fallen. Saul and Jonathan were lovely 
and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they 
were not divided ; they were swifter than eagles, they 
were stronger than lions." 

Far different, indeed, was the dissolution of the 
eminent statesmen, whose loss we. are convened, this 
day, to improve. They expired on their couches, 
surrounded with those gentle and solicitous attentions 
which filial affection and faithful friendship could 
supply. When the chief magistrate of our country 
heard of the deep affliction of his beloved parent, he 
hastened, with all rapidity, that he might, like Joseph 
in reference to Jacob, pay the last tribute of filial af_ 
fection — but, he could not command the chariot of the 
lightning, or the wing of the whirlwind. He arrived 
too late ; not indeed to receive a father's blessing, for 
that had been already bequeathed. 

But if in nothing else the slaughtered heroes of 
Israel and the deceased patriots of America can be 
found to correspond, in this they resemble each other 



» ^ 



*^ lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and 
in their death they were not divided." 

To impart order to meditations, which the strong 
feelings excited in our bosoms, are well calculated to 
interrupt, — 

Let us exhibit that tenour of conduct which it be- 
comes all men, and especially such as are moving in 
the higher circles of life, to maintain. It should b& 
" lovely and j)leasant." 

Let us reflect that the most amiable career of hu- 
man deportment must be succeeded by death. And 

Let us observe, that somer.mes the dissolution of 
man is marked with circumstances of unusual interest. 
" In their death they were not divided." 

It cannot be concealed that there were some traces 
in the history of Saul, which were far from being 
charming or courteous. Of these none could be 
more sensible than the writer of our text. But who 
can cease to admire the man, who, after repeated 
provocation and injury, could speak as David speaks? 
His wisdom discovered the source of the jealousies 
of his adversary — his familiarity with the imperfec- 
tions of the human heart awakened his compassion — 
and the eminence of his piety forgave them all ; 
especially when he recollected that the shield of 
Saul which had been vilely cast away, was the 
shield of one that had been ^^ anointed with oil." 



The sweetness of disposition and deportment 
which our text supposes, is to be obtained only by a 
constant and careful cultivation of the best affections 
of the heart. They are finely exemplified in the 
language of Joseph, who, on seeing the chief butler 
and the chief baker of Pharaoh, to whose charge they 
were committed, deeply dejected, generously and 
humanely asks, "wherefore look ye so sadly to- 
day ?" The recommendation of Paul, the Apostle, 
is full of the ideas before us. " Whatsoever things 
are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever 
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what- 
soever things are of good report; if there be any 
virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. 
Those things which ye have both learned and heard 
and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be 
with you." The same divine writer offers a prayer 
on behalf of the Church at Colosse, embracing a rare 
hut delightful association of duties, " That ye walk 
worthy of God unto all well pleasing." 

The loveliness and pleasantness we contemplate, 
are discoverable in that sense of justice which ren- 
ders to every man his due ; in that solemn respect 
for truth which disdains the artifices of duplicity, 
and in that regard for the character of our neighbour 
which ever frowns on false representation. They 
are seen in that temperance which disclaims the ine- 



8 

briating draught, and in that forgiving passioti, at 
whose feet, anger and revenge expire. Behold them 
in that domestic circle where parents and children, 
and relatives and friends dwell together in unity; 
where fragrance is found, precious as the ointment 
of Aaron, and refreshful as the dew that descend- 
ed upon the mountains of Zion. How amiable the 
conduct of that master who ever conducts himself 
towards his domestics with rectitude and kindness. 
I find in the life of Mr. Jefferson, in the work pub- 
lished by Mr. Delaplaine, the following passage. — 
"His oldest servants never saw him angry, or even 
fretful. He points out their faults in the tone of a 
father and convinces them of the consequences, with 
the mildness of a tender preceptor. These facts are 
derived from a gentleman who received them from 
the lips of the faithful domestics themselves, wliile 
their full eyes confirmed the account they were giv- 
ing of their blesspd mwiter^ for such was the appel- 
lation their love and gratitude bestowed upon him.'^ 
¥rom the best authority, I am well assured, that the 
same condescending attentions, beautified the life of 
Mr. Adams. How lovely that charity which de- 
lights to diminish the mass of human misery, and 
after the example of the Lord Jesus, to communicate 
"the oil of joy for mourning, and the garments of 
praise for tlie spirit of lieaviness.'^ 



9 

When man is a little elevated above his fellow 
man, his heart, too frequently, becomes turgid ^ He 
seems almost to have forgotten that his origin is dust, 
and his elevation, vapour. But, O. there is an unut- 
terable charm in that merit, that power, that station, 
that influence, that nobleness of intellect which re- 
verences the precept, ^^ mind not high things, but con- 
descend to men of low estate." I venerate that great- 
ness, which, while it stands like a towering mountain 
on the margin of the ocean, finds its chief delight in 
the idea, that it can serve as a director to the mariner 
in distress ; that greatness, which, though it shines 
like the sun, rejoices not in its own splendours, but 
in the kind influences it communicates How much 
an unasuming temper governed the lives of our de- 
ceased friends, let the easy and unceremonious hos- 
pitality of Quincy and Monticello testify. 

But to impart to moral excellence its full and real 
character, we are taught, in the divine word, that 
*^ the washing of regeneration and the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost," are indispensable. The highest 
motives to every good word and work are to be de- 
duced from the history of holy men of God, and es- 
pecially from the character of the Lord Jesus — 'from 
the offices which he sustains, and from the example 
which he has left. 

Nothing conduces so effectually to wither thp- 

"} 



10 

energies and destroy the usefulness of man as habits 
of vice. When the Israelites siuned against Jeho- 
vah, '* the hearts of the people melted and became as 
water" This idea is forcibly exhibited in the 
writings of Moses. " Upon them that are left alive 
of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in 
the lands of their enemies ; and the sound of a sha- 
ken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as 
fleeing from a sword ; and they shall fall when no 
man pursueth." The history of such unprincipled 
despots as Herod and !Nero illustrate the fact. On 
the contrary, virtue produces ah intrepidity beyond 
what was ever felt by the arm of the warriour. It 
is this which makes men swiftpr than eagles, strong- 
er than lions. A heathen could say of a man, 
righteous and tenacious of honourable purposes, that 
not the ardour of citizens commanding injustice, not 
the features of a pressing tyrant, can affect him. 
Were the world, shattered into pieces, to fall, its 
fragments would strike him undismayed. The vol- 
ume of inspiration abounds with examples of this 
moral courage. Moses led out the oppressed Israel- 
ites from Egypt, not fearing the vvrath of the King. 
To the request offered to Nehemiah to secrete him- 
self from the plots of his adversaries, he replied, 
" Should such a man as I flee, and who is there that 
being as I am would go into the temple to save his 



ii 

life. I will not go in" ! <^ In the Lord," said David; 
'^ put I my trust, how say ye to my soul, flee as a 
bird to your mountain." 

Instead of confirming this sentiment by selections 
from Ancient History, I will refer you to one circum- 
stance in our own. A body of wiser and more vir- 
tuous men were never collected than those which 
composed our first Congress. They were raised up 
by Heaven for the especial purpose of emancipating 
the colonies ; but their panoply was their rectitude. 
Mailed in this, they could smile at the menaces of 
indignant royalty — at the stratagems of disappoint^ 
cd politicians — at the clangour of furious arms — at the 
prospect of an opening grave. See the Committee, 
of whom Mr. JhFFEiisoN and Mr. xIdams were 
prominent members, present to their fellow patriots, 
the immortal instrument which determined the inde- 
pendence of these States. On every countenance sit 
calmness, dignity, decision, courage ; because every 
bosom is under the sway of moral pre-eminence, 
liook at the boldness of the signatures, fac-similes 
of which are spread through our Union and through 
the world. If in one instance paralysis forbade the 
dash, that the love of country would have given, it 
should be remembered that the rock is unshaken, 
though the aspen tremble on its side. 

But, there is a power that will shake us all. 



1:3 

'•The most amiable career of human deportment must 
be succeeded bv death." We all dwell in taberna- 
cles of clay, and our foundation is in the dust. " All 
jlesh is grass and all the goodliness of man is as the 
flower of the field : the grass withereth, the flower 
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon 
it," Our present joys and afflictions, together with 
our occupations and projects, will shortly be termi- 
nated. The season for imparting blessings to socie- 
ty, for cautioning by our instructions, and animating 
by our example, must cease. The intercourse of the 
purest friendships must be interrupted ; the body 
must become the victim of corruption, and the spirit 
ascend to the God who gave it. Where are the pa- 
triarchs, the statesmen, the philosophers, the poets, 
the warriours, in whose train myriads have fought, 
and have fallen? Where the millions on millions, 
that have preceeded us in the procession of time? 
The Earth saitli they are in me ! the Sea saith they 
are in me ! — 

Our monthly bills of mortality instruct us that we 
are inhabitants of a dying world, and the diseases to 
which our systems are incessantly exposed, premon- 
ish us of their ultimate demolition. The solemn 
decree of Heaven against offt^nding man, ^^Dust 
thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," will suffer 
fko reverse until "the trumpet shall sound and the 



13 

dead shall be raised." Yet a little while and the 
eye shall lose its brilliancy and tl e ear its capacity 
of welcoming the varieties of sound ; *• the keepers 
of the house shall tremble and the strong men bow 
themselves ;'' " because man goeth unto his long 
home and the mourners go about the streets." Im- 
mortality on earth is sought in vain. It is, indeed, 
totally inconsistent Avith the economy of things around 
us. The wise man and the foolish man, the ciiild 
and the sire, the weak and the powerful, the timid 
and the daring, will alike be prostrated by the ar- 
rows of death. In this sense, we may employ the lan- 
guage of Solomon, " All things come alike to all : 
there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked ; 
to the good and clean, and to the unclean ; to him 
that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not ; as is 
the good, so is the sinner, and he that sweareth, as 
he that feareth an oath.'' 

Could talents the most splendid, patriotism the 
most pure, the most sage experience and the most 
impassioned solicitude for their country's welfare, 
have presented an obstructive to the advance of 
death, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson had not died. 

In general, men die because of the irruptions of 
disease, the special visitations of Heaven, the deso- 
lations of ambition, or the increase of years. Some- 
times, however, the dissolution of man is marked 



14 

with circumstances of peculiar interest! In some 
cases, death approaches with the slowness of vegeta- 
ble decay; in others, with the suddenness of the 
lightning's flash. Sometimes dying is as excruciating 
as suspension on the rack ; sometimes easy as the 
softest slumbers of infancy. But our text refers 
more peculiarly to coincidence of period. " In their 
death, they were not divided.'' The blood of the 
father and the son, on the same day, and in the same 
conflict, irrigated the same hapless mountain. Yet 
correspondencies of this character are by no means 
uncommon. Disasters may be expected to be mutual, 
where dangers are so. But, in the circumstances of 
the decease of Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams, our 
whole nation discovers a concurrence at which she 
stands astonished. She weeps, she adores — fain 
"would she inter|)ret, but she knows not how. She 
rises, and borrowing her language from the skies, 
exclaims, ^* Great and marvellous are thy works, 
Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, 
thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, 
O Lord, and glorify thy name.'' 

Nations have gratified themselves in fixing- on 
synchronous events. The Macedonians regarded it 
as something singular and impressive, that Alexan- 
der the Great should have been born, on the very 
night that the magnificent temple of Ephesus was 



15 

burned to the ground. It was the boast of the Gre- 
cians, thai, according to the testimony of Herodotus, 
the grand victory of Salamin was achieved, on the 
same day, on which the tremendous army of the 
Carthagenians, consisting of 300,000 men, was to- 
tally defeated by Gelon. The English regard the 
circumstances as most impressing, that the Spanisli 
invasion was frustrated in 1588, and that in 1688, 
the Revolution was eifected, and William ascended 
the throne ; and, also, that on November the 5th, the 
gun-powder plot was detected, and on November the 
5th, this hero landed on the British shores. One of 
their divinest bards, referring to these propitious oc- 
currencies, says — 

The happy day and happy year 

Both in one new salvation meet ; 
The day that qucnch'd the burning snare. 

The year that burnt th' invading fleet. 

I could multiply citations of this description, but, 
they are unnecessary, and the more so, because they 
are not infrequent. But, 0, what a scene presses on 
the vision of every American. Here are two great 
men, not great, indeed, as was Washington on the 
embattled field ; this was not the element in which 
the God of nations had destined them to move ; birt 
great like him, in the council chamber and in the 
Senate. Here are two great men, profound in learn- 
ing, powerful in intellect, self-consecrated to their 



16 

country ; the one the elegant and forceful writer, the 
other the judicious and invincible defender, of our 
Charter of Independence. Here are two great men, 
both elevated to the successive Presidency of these 
rising States, and both retiring into every thing that 
is '^ lovely and pleasant" in private life, as the waters 
of the immense lakes and sublime cataract of the 
Northern bounds of our country sink into the hum- 
ble stream of the St. Lawrence. But they die — be 
astonished O earth ! they die — on the very day that 
consummated the jubilee of America's freedom ; one 
at the hour at which the Declaration of Independence 
was presented to Congress, the other at the hour at 
which it was announced to the People. Search the 
histories of the world, from the days of our common 
progenitor, to the present hour ; in vain will you at- 
tempt to find so surprising a coincidence. Thanks 
be to the God of mercy, he suffered not time to bear 
against and throw down these venerable pillars of 
the dome of our Republic, until he had provided other 
columns to supply their absence. Possibly on some 
minds the fact may excite less interest than on my 
own, were I to state that on the 4th of July, the 
t)bservant astronomer saw two of the most beautiful 
planets in the solar round descend, nearly at the 
same period, into the western sky. 

In the departure of these illustrious men^ who dis- 



17 

covers not the hand of the Lord? They were re- 
moved, for their work was finished. The obstruc- 
tions to their most affectionate intercourse had long 
vanished like the mists of the morning, and their de- 
cease offers a suggestion to all, who, amid the festivi- 
ties of our annual celebrations, remember not their re- 
sponsibilities — ^* Man, in his best estate, is lighter 
than vanity." 

May it never be said of any of our citizens, "The 
harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are 
in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the 
Lord, nor the operation of his hands." 

Mr. Jefferson expressed his wish to live until 
the day of our Jubilee ; his desire was granted him. 
Mr. Adams, on hearing the voice of cannon, and be- 
ing informed that it announced the Jubilee of our In- 
dependence, said, " IT IS A GREAT, A GLORIOUS 

DAY ;" and spake no more. " Father of Day," cried a 
heathen sovereign, " thou resplendent Sun, 1 give thee 
thanks, that before I leave the world, I have been so 
happy as to see Cornelius Scipio in my dominions, and 
in my palace. — I have now lived as long as I could 
desire." With what greater propriety might our de- 
ceased Statesmen have exclaimed, " Father of 
Lights, thou giver of every good and perfect gift, we 
jhave lived to see the Fiftieth year of the Indepeu-' 



18 

denre of our Union. We leave her in full glory and 
prosperity — and, as to our country, we ask no more." 
To attempt a detail of the lives, or a delineation of 
the character, of these distinguished men, would be 
to intrude on the circles of the Orator and the Histo- 
rian. And yet, entire silence on these sul)jects would 
proliahly disappoint the anticipations of this assembly. 
Let me then briefly observe, that Mr. Thomas Jef- 
FE!>soN, who was first on the wave of eternity, was 
born in Chesterfield county, Va., on the 2d of April, 
1743. His family were among the first emigrants 
to that State. He received his education at the Col- 
lege of William and Mary; and, on the completion of 
his classic course, proceeded to the study of the law, 
under the celebrated civilian, George Wythe. His 
practice was very successful ; but this is the less sur- 
prising, as it is said to have been his invariable rule 
to engage in no cause, of the entire justice of which, 
after severe examination, he was not wholly sat- 
isfied. The talents of M r. J effr rson were too promi- 
nent to be concealed ; he rose like the etherial sun. 
His country solicited their employment in her favour, 
and his patriotism promptly presented them. Sa 
early as the year 1769, he was a respectable meir 
ber of the Virginia Legislature; in which capacity, 
his penetrative genius was led to a careful investiga- 
tion of the principles of Government. In 177^; ht 



19 

appepred as au author. The elegance of his peri- 
ods, the boldness of his conceptions, and his zeal for 
ViS country, commanded universal admiration- Af- 
ter remonstrating with Lord North, on the mischiefs 
he was desirous of practising on the Colonies, he says, 
" What, then, remains to be doneP-^That we com- 
mit our injuries to the even-handed justice of that 
Being who doth no wrong 5 earnestly beseeching 
Him to illuminate the counsels, and prosper the en- 
deavours, of those to whom America hath confided 
her hopes." 

If, as has been said, the conducting of the Revo- 
lution rested on the counsels of a few, Mr. Jlffbr- 
soN was one of those few. In 1779? he was elected 
Governor of the State, successor to the celebrated 
Patrick Henry. For the " impartial, upright, and 
attentive" administration of the duties of his office, he 
received the thanks of his countrymen. In the midst 
of the commotions of 17^1, his active and powerful 
mind found leisure to compose his memorable work, 
the "Notes on Virginia." His reading, observation, 
and industry, had supplied the elements of such a 
production, so that it remained for him only to give 
them shape and beauty. In July, 1784, he sailed 
for Kurope. In every measure which he pursued in 
the different Courts there, his eye was constantly fix- 
ed on the honour and happiness of America. He re- 



^0 

turned to New York in 1790, which Avas, at that pe* 
riod, the seat of the Public Government. Here he 
filled the office of Secretary of State, until the com- 
mencement of January, 179'i» after which, at his own 
request, he, for a while, retired to his favourite man- 
sion in Virginia, enjoying the consolations of domes- 
tic intercourse, devising plans for the general good, 
and prosecuting those philosophical studies with 
which his ample mind was ever entertained. 

In 1797? lic> was elected Vice-President of the 
Union, and in ISUl, was elected to the highest Chair 
of Magistracy, to which his country could conduct 
him, and from which, in 1S09, he retired. Omitting 
a thousand circumstances, which future eloquence 
will record, there is one, which, on a solemnity like 
the present, we cannot neglect to mention. Mr. Jef- 
FEKSON was a decided enemy to religious intolerance 
—a champion for the inviolable rights of conscience. 
His correct feelings on this subject, revolted at the 
idea of the incorporation of Religion with Civil Gov- 
ernment. The practice of ancient heathen affords 
no argument, in favour of a system which reduces 
their Mythology to the ground, and lays it low in 
the dust. Christianity is spiritual. She has sanc- 
tions infinitely more rational and more effective than 
any which human establishments can adduce. Her 
voice is — Render to Caesar, the things that are Cse- 



Si 

Sar's, and to God, the things that are God's. Th'e 
views of this Master-Lei;;tslator cannot be more fully 
expressed, than in his own words. '^ The attack on 
the establishment of a dominant religion was first 
made by myself. It could be carried, at first, only 
by a suspension of salaries for one year ; by battling 
it again, at the next session, or another year, and so 
from year to year, until the public mind was ripen- 
ed for the bill, for establishing religious freedom, 
which I had prepared for the Revised Code also. 
This was at length established permanently, and by 
the efforts chiefly of Mr. Madison, being myself in 
Europe, at the time that work was brought forward." 
The last years of the life of Mr. Jeffkkson were 
filled with projecting a grand State University, which 
he hoped might minister blessings to the whole 
Union. This most promising establishment he had 
the honour of seeing brought into full operation. At 
length, on the fourth of July last, on the venerable tree, 
which had afforded shade and fruit to thousands, 
descended a gentle breeze of Heaven — its age and 
weakness needed no more — and it has fallen. 

Braintree, in Massachusetts, so early as the lyth 
of October, 1735, gave birth to Mr. Joh-\ Adams. 
His ancestry is traced to one of the earliest and most 
respectable families, by which, in the year I6d0, the 
Colony of Massachusetts Bay was founded. When 



as 

his classical education at Cambridge was completed, 
his attention Was directed to the study of the law. 
In this, by the purity of his principles, the profound- 
ness of his information, and the suavity and force of 
his elocution, he excelled. But his comprehensive 
mind was not to be restricted with the circle of a 
court of judicature. lie searched deeply into the 
principles of the administration of public alfairs — ac- 
curately compared one system w^ith another, and thus 
became, in a manner, self-educated for the great ser- 
vices which Providence had destined him to fulfil. 
Mr. Adams' mind was constitutionally intrepid. To 
what conscience dictated as duty, without deviation, 
he adhered. Of this we have a striking example, in 
his manly and successful vindication of Capt. Pres- 
ton, on account of conduct alleged to be sanguinary. 
He conducted the cause with that wisdom and dis- 
cretion, which, in a young man of thirty-five, could 
scarcely have been expected. In i77% he was elect- 
ed a member of the first Congress. In 177^? bim- 
self and Mr. Jefferson constituted the sub-committee 
to prepare that immortal instrument to which we 
have already referred. The great design of the sep- 
aratidu of the Colonies from Great Britain, appears 
to have been projected by himself. Other public 
agents, at his instance, brought the motion forward, 
but Mr. Adams was its grand sustainer. He was in 



23 

Congress, the same as was Washington in the field, 
the soul that animated every adventure. The like- 
ness of a statesman is rarely drawn in its full pro- 
portions, while he is yet living. The artist stands 
too near the pedestal. Another Jubilee will present 
Mr. Adams with all that imposing correctness which 
his immense services in our Revolution demand. 
Passions more sincerely mingled with the love of 
country, could find a place in no human bosom. 
When almost every heart was appalled, he could 
say, in language almost prophetic, ''Through all the 
gloom, I can see a ray of light and glory." On the 
proclamation of peace, he paid successive visits to 
Europe, vested with power to assist at conferences, 
to negotiate loans, and in any other way to exercise-. 
a plenipotentiary capacity for advancing the interests 
of his beloved country. During the whole period of 
the Presidency of Washington, Adams was Vice- 
President ; and, when the Father of our Union re- 
signed his office, he was, in the year 1790, chosen 
his successor. At the close of the period of his ad- 
ministration, he retired to his paternal estate at Quin- 
cy, where, amid the friendships of the virtuous, the 
consolations of domestic amiableness, the conscious- 
ness of the best endeavours to serve his generation, 
and the high approbation of encircling citizens, he 
passed his hours in joyous tranquillity. But, it is the 



SI 

tlestiuy of iiaiuic to {lecline. He bad lived to see a 
beloved son raised to a seat of bonour, wbich bini- 
self bad antecedently occupied, and he asked no 
more. Tbe venerable tower bad for more than ninety 
years endured, witb much firmness, the decaying 
power of time; but the roar of the thunders of our 
Jubilee were too much for it to resist — it shook — it 
fell. 

From a general view of the events we are con- 
templarmg, let us, this day offer up to tbe Everlasting 
God, the God of the nations of the whole earth, our 
loftiest, our most solemn, our most grateful hymns 
of praise ! Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent 
reigneth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and 
he shall reign for ever and ever ! Have there been 
a Periclean age, an Augustan age, the age of tbe 
Medici, tbe age of Anne and Elizabeth, in which 
men, profound in science, vigorous in genius, and 
delicate in taste, have poured forth on society tbe 
rich streams of their bigli invention ? Have there 
been periods in which prophets and apostles, emper- 
ors and reformers, have been raised up for chasing 
away the ignorance, subduing tbe transgressions, and 
exciting tbe consolations of man, by tbe pure ex- 
hibition of the character of tbe Lord Jesus, and of the 
path to immortality through his sacred name ? There 
have been seasons, too, in which he has visited bis 



creatures by training up among them, for the hour at 
which they were peculiarly wanted, statesmen to il- 
lustrate their natural rights, and military men to 
maintain them. Is the land of Egypt to be preserved 
from the desolations of famine ; mark the providences 
which elevated Joseph to its regency ! Or, is Egypt 
to be chastised for her oppressions ; contemplate the 
mysterious, the admirable process, by which the in- 
fant boy, from the bulrush-ark, is introduced into the 
court of Pharoah, made familiar with the wisdom of 
the only refined nation upon the earth, until at length, 
*' mighty in words and deeds," he receives his com- 
mission from the flaming bush to accomplish wonders 
in the land of Ham, and lead forth Joseph as a flock. 
Is Palestine to be vanquished ? Jehovah presents 
his people with Joshua for their general. Is a 
Goliath to be subdued ? The shepherd boy is la 
the camp. Is Judah to be rescued from Baby- 
lonian servitude ? Not only at the appointed moment 
are conductors, and heroes, and architects, and priests 
at hand, but Cyrus is raised up and girded, and 
the first becomes the most illustrious year of his 
reign. There was a time when America wanted a 
Washington, an Adams, a Jefferson, a Lafay- 
ette, a Fkanklin, and others, who like them, were 
great in council, or great in arms, and thanks be to 
God, he gave them us at the requisite hour. '' Whose 



S6 

is wise and will observe these things, even they shall 
understand the fear of the Lord." The talents of 
Jeffkkson and Adams are now not imperiously de- 
manded ; a luxuriant undergrowth has supplied their 
place, and he who will hereafter fold up the heavens 
and lay them aside as a garment, when, for the ex- 
ecution of his sublime purposes, he shall no longer 
require them ; lias gently said to each of our deceased 
patriots, '' I have no need of thee." 

I might expatiate on the advantages which moder- 
ation in aliment secures, in the extension of life to 
its remotest limits. I might insist on the unquestion- 
able superiority of the favoured climate of these 
United States, as well in the northern as in the mid- 
dle, I had almost said, and in the southern regions, 
for producing instances of longevity ; and exemplify 
these truths, by requesting the world to read the epi- 
taphs which the faitliful marble, that shall rise over 
the graves of these our departed Presidents, must 
confirm. But passing by such ideas, let me press on 
your minds a consideration of the most encouraging 
character. 

Manifestations of the kindness of the Lord, in trials 
that are past, should inspire our confidence in his 
Holy Name, that he will make " bare his arm," in 
our favour in difficulties that yet may approach. Our 
states are. happy among themselves, and, I trust, this 



27 

happiness will be coeval with the harmony of the 
spheres. But it were folly to throw the idea into 
shade, that the powers of Ihe earth have in relation 
to us their jealousies and their aversions. Our po- 
litical institutions^ free, wise and honourable, are at 
entire variance with theirs. Their 'people are be- 
ginning to see, but like the heath in the desert, they 
see not when good cometh. What combinations they 
may form, what navies they may associate, what 
armies they may transport, we know not ; and if our 
trust be in the living God, who made heaven and 
earth, in the spirit of humility, we may subjoin, we 
care not. For, " if God be for us, who can be 
against us?" It was tiie habit of the holy prophets 
of Israel to encourage the people by calling up to 
their recollection what God had already wrought. 
Take, for example, the language of Isaiah ; " awake, 
awake, put on strength, arm of the Lord ; awake 
as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art 
thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the 
dragon ? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, 
the waters of the great deep, that hath made the 
depths of the sea, a way for the ransomed to pass 
over ? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall 
return and come with singing unto Zion !" Let our 
nation lay her hand on the altar, and implore celestial 
assistance, and she may confidently believe that God 



»8 

will provide some future Washington, some future 
Adams, some future Jefferson, who will lead her 
sons to victory, and by their wisdom, spread peace, 
like a river, through all her regions. 

If, on the face of the earth, there exist a people 
Under peculiar obligations to obey the precepts of 
Heaven, we are that people. His goodness should 
lead us to repentance for our offences, and ever in- 
fluence us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk 
humbly with him. Let temples every where rise in 
honour of his name, and let them be crouded with 
grateful, adoring, and holy worshippers. It is an 
instructive truth, asserted by the judicious Rollin, 
and attested by the whole history of our species, that 
nations have risen into a state of grandeur, or de- 
scended into ruin and infamy, in proportion as they 
have been governed by, or have neglected, mora,! 
principle. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation. 
It is righteousness, which so finely harmonizes with 
the equality of a Republick ; which suppresses the 
rising of animosity, by instructing us that what- 
soever we would that men sliould do unto us, we 
also do unto them ; it is this which spreads content- 
ment through all the walks of life. It is this which 
inspires the merchant, the mechanick, the agricul- 
turalist and the man of science, to prosecute his 
course w^ith success and honour. What sound more 



S9 

charming to the ear than the voice of the individual, 
high in the service of his country, who can stand and 
in presence of his fellow citizens exclaim, as did the 
patriarch, " I put on righteousness and it clothed 
me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I 
was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I 
was a father to the poor, and the cause which I knew 
not, I searched out : and I brake the jaws of tlie 
wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth." But 
if we sin against Heaven, and in His sight, the sa- 
gacity and moral worth of no statesmen can deliver 
us. The vessel of our commonwealth will be found 
in an eddy too powerful to escape the tremendous 
vortex. Our eagle, divested of its pinions, will drop 
to the earth. The folly of Rehoboam was the im- 
mediate cause of that disruption between Israel and 
Judah, which, like a deadly wound, refused to be 
healed ; but the real excitement is to be traced to the 
vices of his father, during the latter periods of his 
reign, and to the immoral condition of the people. 
Does Babylon put on the garments of pride, of in- 
humanity and of impiety ; a prophet is directed to 
say, " Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of 
the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God over- 
threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be in- 
habited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation 
to generation — wild beasts of the desert shall lie 



30 

there, and their houses shall be full of doleful crea. 
tures — her time is near to come and her days shall 
not be prolonged.'^ Did Tyre abandon herself to 
avarice, voluptuousness and oppression ; is her sov- 
reign heard crying, '^ I am a God, 1 sit in the seat of 
God, in the midst of the seas ?" Jehovah says, " I 
am against thee, 0, Tyre ! 1 will cause many nations 
to come up against thee as the sea causeth his waves 
to come up. I will send a fire on thy wall that shall 
devour thy palaces. Thy merchandise and all thy 
company in the midst of thee shall fall. Thou never 
shalt be any more.'' What procured the desolation 
■of Jerusalem ? In the expostulation of the Saviour, 
we have an answer, ^' O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou 
that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are 
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, as a hen gathereth her brood Under 
wings — and ye would not — Behold your house is left 
unto you desolate.'' Rome, once the mistress of 
nations, while practising the sterner virtues, was in- 
vincible ; but she fell beneath the pressure of her 
inordinate self- valuation, her ambition and her luxu- 
ry. The Divine Majesty may bear, as he has borne, 
with offending nations. He may say, " the iniquity 
of the Amorites is not yet full :'' but as assuredly as 
his throne is immutable — as that throne is established 
in righteousness, persevering transgression will be 



31 

succeeded by ultimate overthrow. I rank our mis- 
sionary Institutions, our Bible Societies, and our Sun- 
day Schools among the bulwarks of brass which pro- 
mise our safety. 

One of the Captains of Charles V requested 
the favour of a discharge from public service. The 
Emperor demanded the reason. The thoughtful of- 
ficer replied, " There ought to be a pause between 
the tumult of life and the day of death." It is said 
this circumstance had a powerful effect in inducing 
Charles to abandon his throne, and retire to a con- 
vent. That pause, we entreat you, at least, this sa- 
cred Sabbath, to make. The decease of our venera- 
ble and beloved frieuds addresses us in tones the 
most solemn. " We must needs die, and are as wa- 
ter spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up. 
again, neither dotli God respect any person '' " Sure- 
ly every man walketh in a vain shew, surely they are 
disquieted in vain.'' " Cease ye from man, whose 
breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be ac- 
counted of." *^ All nations before him are as noth- 
ing, and they are accounted to him, less than nothing, 
and vanity." We have all sinned, and come short 
of the glory of God. In the language of Job, we 
may say, " Drought and heat consume the snow wa- 
ters, so doth the grave, those that have sinned." 
Protracted age is no security against the invasions of 



32 



I 



death. Adam, the common parent of us all, lived 
1)30 years, and yet—he died. Who of us can hope to ' 
surmount his ninetieth, his eightieth year? Existence ' 
so far prolonged, is the privilege of few— very few. 
On the bridge of human life-to use an allusion of f 1 
Mr. Addison's elegant Vision of Mirza— on the ' 
bridge of human life, which we are now crossing, are 
innumerable trap-doors that lie concealed, through ^\ 
which the passengers drop into the tide below, and 
disappear. No one in this assembly is warranted 
to use the language of David to Jonathan—" Truly, 
as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, there is but 
a step between me and death." There may be ma- 
ny steps, there may be but one : but since each step 
is the step of jeopardy, how much is it the wisdom 
and duty of every man, to be well prepared for the 
final plunge? 

While on earth we are permitted to continue, let 
us have our eye continually fixed on the duties of 
our respective stations ; whether the niche allotted 
us in the temple of society, be depressed or exalted. 
Let us seek refuge in the arms of the atonins: Re- 
deemer, and, sanctified by his Holy Spirit, may it be 
ours, amid the dread catastrophe of a perishing Uni- 
verse, to find this corruptible put on incorruption, this 
mortal, immortality. 



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